--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Affectation of candour is common…" description: "\"“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/jane-austen-39_affectation_affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough_2954909.jpg" --- # Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it… ![“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/jane-austen-39_affectation_affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough_2954909.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/jane-austen-39_affectation_affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough_2954909.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/jane-austen-39_affectation_affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough_2954909.jpg) > ““Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Candor without pretense is rare; true honesty improves others while ignoring flaws is selfish. **In simple terms:** True honesty improves others. Key Takeaway Practice sincere, balanced honesty. Themes integrity humility social etiquette Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - friendships - professional relationships - family dynamics Key Concepts authentic communication ethical behavior Questions to Reflect On - How to balance honesty and kindness? - When is omission appropriate? A Different Perspective Ignoring flaws can be dishonest. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affectation/) [Candour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candour/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough-one-meets-with-it-everywhere/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-know-you-do-and-it-is-that-which-makes-the-wonder-with-your-good/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Every reader should remember the diffidence of Socrates, and repair by his candour the injuries of time: he should impute the seeming defects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/every-reader-should-remember-the-diffidence-of-socrates-and-repair-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [There is a popular superstition that "realism" asserts itself in the cataloguing of a great number of material objects, in explaining mechanical processes, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/there-is-a-popular-superstition-that-realism-asserts-itself-in-the/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Candour is the brightest gem of criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-d-israeli/candour-is-the-brightest-gem-of-criticism/) [Isaac D'Israeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-d-israeli/) > [I'm not dripping with charisma like many of my friends are. But I do have candour, which is close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-brennan/i-m-not-dripping-with-charisma-like-many-of-my-friends-are-but-i-do/) [Neal Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-brennan/) > [A true party-man hates and despises candour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/a-true-party-man-hates-and-despises-candour/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Truth is, I'll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/truth-is-i-ll-never-know-all-there-is-to-know-about-you-just-as-you/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting government spending.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-callaghan/we-used-to-think-that-you-could-spend-your-way-out-of-a-recession-and/) [James Callaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-callaghan/) > [The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had-with-people-on-trains-derived/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Such pretensions to nicety in experiments of this nature, are truly laughable! They will be telling us some day of the WEIGHT of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sutton-harrington/such-pretensions-to-nicety-in-experiments-of-this-nature-are-truly/) Robert Sutton Harrington > [We also believe candour benefits us as managers. The CEO who misleads often in public eventually misleads himself in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/we-also-believe-candour-benefits-us-as-managers-the-ceo-who-misleads/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [“That is what you love a friend for: the ability to change your angle of vision, bring back your best self when you feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/that-is-what-you-love-a-friend-for-the-ability-to-change-your-angle/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“I have promised to dine at White's, but it is only with an old friend, so I can send him a wire to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-have-promised-to-dine-at-white-s-but-it-is-only-with-an-old-friend/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/they-were-rather-handsome-had-been-educated-in-one-of-the-first-2/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Affectation quotes > [Mannerism is not character, and affectation is the avowed enemy of grace. Every dancer ought to regard his laborious art as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-bournonville/mannerism-is-not-character-and-affectation-is-the-avowed-enemy-of/) [August Bournonville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-bournonville/) > [I have no affectation when I speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kudrow/i-have-no-affectation-when-i-speak/) [Lisa Kudrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kudrow/) > [Affectation is a very good word when someone does not wish to confess to what he would none the less like to believe of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/affectation-is-a-very-good-word-when-someone-does-not-wish-to-confess/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-don-t-like-affectation/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Look for all fancy wordings and get rid of themAvoid all terms and expressions, old or new, that embody affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/look-for-all-fancy-wordings-and-get-rid-of-themavoid-all-terms-and/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [The only source of the true Ridiculous (as it appears to me) is affectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-only-source-of-the-true-ridiculous-as-it-appears-to-me-is/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [Affectation is to be always distinguished from hypocrisy as being the art of counterfeiting those qualities, which we might with innocence and safety, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/affectation-is-to-be-always-distinguished-from-hypocrisy-as-being-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectations-he-s-only-trying-on-one/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned affectation. It's like decal stuck up on a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-have-no-modesty-modesty-is-a-learned-affectation-it-s-like-decal/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Affectation is the product of falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/affectation-is-the-product-of-falsehood/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Affectation hath always had a greater share both in the action and discourse of men than truth and judgment have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aphra-behn/affectation-hath-always-had-a-greater-share-both-in-the-action-and/) [Aphra Behn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aphra-behn/) > [Affectation proceeds from one of these two causes,--vanity or hypocrisy; for as vanity puts us on affecting false characters, in order to purchase applause;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/affectation-proceeds-from-one-of-these-two-causes-vanity-or-hypocrisy/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [External reality is sort of an affectation of the nervous system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/external-reality-is-sort-of-an-affectation-of-the-nervous-system/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [There is a pleasure in affecting affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/there-is-a-pleasure-in-affecting-affectation/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Affectation is an awkward and forced imitation of what should be genuine and easy, wanting the beauty that accompanies what is natural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/affectation-is-an-awkward-and-forced-imitation-of-what-should-be/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) [Browse all 27 Affectation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affectation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. 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